The Pentax smc FA 50mm F1.4 is something of an anomaly in the company's current lens lineup, as the last of their film-era primes featuring plastic construction and an aperture ring. This actually reflects the fact that Pentax are probably the leading proponents of modern-design fixed-focal length lenses, with their range of compact 'pancake' lenses and 'Limited' series high quality primes being the envy of users of other systems. Indeed we can probably presume that the 50mm F1.4 will itself be superseded by the recently-announced Pentax-DA* 55mm F1.4 SDM lens, but in the meantime it stands as the most obvious option for users seeking a fast prime for low light and portrait work.

The 50mm F1.4 features a traditional design of 7 elements in 6 groups, with all of the lens surfaces spherical in profile. In this regard it's very similar to the Canon EF 50mm F1.4 USM and Nikon AF-Nikkor 50mm F1.4D which we've reviewed recently, and therefore looks somewhat dated when compared to the all-new, aspheric-element Sigma 50mm F1.4 EX DG HSM. The 'smc' designation indicates treatment with Pentax's 'super multi coating' for the minimization of flare, and the 'FA' designation indicates that, unlike the newer 'DA' digitally optimized lenses, its image circle covers the 35mm full-frame format.

With Pentax concentrating their attentions on the APS-C format, the function of this lens has subtly changed from the days of 35mm film, and the 1.5x crop factor means it now acts more like a classic short 'portrait' telephoto, instead of the general purpose 'standard' lens it was designed to be. The question to be asked is therefore whether it's well suited to this role, especially given the high resolution demands of the smaller sensor. Read on to find out.

Headline features

50mm focal length

Fast F1.4 maximum aperture

Angle of view

The picture below illustrates the angle of view on APS-C (see here for comparative shots using the 18-55mm F3.5-5.6 kit lens):